A Katikati teenager may lose a thumb and finger after a fireworks explosion on the weekend.
The 16-year-old is understood to have been making a fireworks bomb with a friend on Saturday when the accident occurred at his family's orchard on Strathmore Drive in Aongatete.
Katikati firefighters assisted St John Ambulance at
the scene and the teenager was transported to Tauranga Hospital.
He is now in a stable condition in a ward at Waikato Hospital.
Katikati Fire Service Senior Station Officer Peter Carney said the injury was bad enough for the teenager to possibly lose a finger and thumb.
Katikati police senior constable John Fitzgerald said the boys were home alone, in a workshop, when the accident occurred at 4.25pm.
Mr Fitzgerald said the pair were constructing a small explosive, by grouping fireworks together.
The accident happened during construction, when the bomb was ignited by a spark "unintentionally", Mr Fitzgerald said.
The victim was using a hammer to fashion a casing out of steel tubing.
"He was using the hammer to shape the casing and it [the tubing] had gunpowder from fireworks inside it at the time," Mr Fitzgerald said.
As the case closed, it is believed to have sparked.
The teenager received a serious "blast injury" to his hand.
Mr Fitzgerald said when emergency services arrived, the injured teen was conscious and talking, sitting in a chair with his hand wrapped in a towel.
The pair were "regretting" what they had done, Mr Fitzgerald said.
"Their intention was just to set it off in a back paddock."
Mr Fitzgerald said with Guy Fawkes approaching on November 5, it was an important reminder to be careful with fireworks.
"I think people underestimate how dangerous they can be," he said.
In 2006 the Government restricted the sale of fireworks, including making it illegal to sell to anyone under 18.
An online petition to ban the sale of fireworks in New Zealand has more than 3880 signatures.
Then Environment Minister David Benson-Pope said he had stopped short of a total ban but it was still a possibility.
